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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

My brother (who works in the banking industry) recommended that about every 6 months I cancel any debit and credit cards I have and have them reissued with a new number. Since I had fraud that cost me money (still dealing with bills, that no one but me is responsible for. fun.) So I thought that might be a good tip to pass along. This way anyone who had your old number can't use it again.

I just called my credit card company today and had a new card reissued, as well as my personal debit card. I didn't do my business debit as I only opened that account last month for my new cleaning business.

If you have any payments automatically withdrawn, cancel the card shortly after the payment and call them as soon as you get the new card with the new number.

Hopefully this tip will save you fraud or a company using your card at a later date for no reason (both happened to me.)

On the topic of credit cards, only spend what you can pay off each month.

As for debit cards, only use them when you can not use cash (say online.) You will almost always spend more than planned by using them.

Do you have credit cards? Debit cards? Have you ever had fraud or unauthorized charges on your account?

-Becky

p.s. I do have one credit card. It has no balance. I have a business debit card linked to my business checking account. I also have a personal checking account with no debit card linked to it. I also have a few savings account. One is for my emergency fund. One is for my taxes (I put away each month, but pay quarterly.) One is for my home insurance (it is only due once a year, but I save monthly.)